


Clinic Stories

by girljen



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Mild Gore, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-02-26 12:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18717430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girljen/pseuds/girljen
Summary: A peek inside Pelican Town's medical clinic over the course of a few days in the summer





	1. House Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily comes in with an infected wound, and Harvey makes a house call to the mountain house.

“Good morning, Emily, you...don’t look well.” Harvey pulled a clipboard out from behind the counter and punched some information in on his computer.

“Thanks for getting me in on short notice. Here you go.” She set a travel mug of coffee down on the counter.

“It’s for me? This is my favorite stuff! It’s like you read my mind.” Harvey took the coffee. “I’ll need you to fill this out real quick while I get the exam room ready…”

“Hmph.” Emily grabbed a pen with her left hand and started writing, right there at the counter.

“How did I miss that you’re left-handed?”

“I’m not.” Still, her handwriting was legible, and even beautiful. “I prefer my right for writing, but I’m fully ambidextrous.”

“Then why aren’t you writing with your right hand?”

“My friend bit it.”

“What?! Who? Do we need to get police involved?”

Emily let out a chuckle. “No! I’m sorry, I meant my friend the parrot.”

“Do we need to get a veterinarian involved, then? Is this normal behavior for him?” Harvey pulled out a handwritten rolodex.

“Them,” Emily said. “I won’t know their gender for sure unless they lay an egg.” She kept writing. She sounded defeated. “It was my fault. This is a hormonal crazy time for parrots. I’d tried to take their favorite toy out of the cage so I could clean it. They didn’t like that, so they bit my hand.” She sighed. “Besides, I’ve already called the vet. They have a checkup in a few days, and it sounds like something that can be addressed then.”

“Very good!”

Emily pushed the clipboard toward Harvey. “Done.”

“Well then, let’s go to the exam room. I can set up while I’m asking you what happened.” He walked to the back of the clinic. Emily followed silently. “So when did this happen, anyway?”

“Monday.”

“Why did you wait until Friday to come in?”

“I was treating it at home.”

“With what?” Harvey opened the door to the exam room and pulled out bandages. 

“Essential oils.”

Harvey’s jaw dropped. He quickly turned his back and rummaged in a cabinet to hide the shock on his face, and to find a tube of bacitracin.

Emily continued. “I also wore opal and quartz.”

“Well, you definitely made an effort...” Harvey’s voice was weak. “We’ll take a look at the wound and see what’s going on. First, let’s take your vital signs, starting with a temperature.”

He ran a thermometer across Emily’s forehead. “Just as I suspected, you have a pretty high fever. Have a seat, and we’ll get the rest of our vitals.”

“Ugh.” Emily sat down on the exam table. Harvey took a blood pressure and pulse, and was not at all surprised to find out that they were higher than normal.

“Now, will you show me the bite, please?”

Emily sighed and pulled up the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Near her wrist was a round area about the size of a quarter, a sickly yellowish-white on top, with a thick and angry red border. There was a red streak climbing up her arm.

Harvey pressed on the streak.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, just had to check for sensitivity.” He continued examining the wound, pushing down and watching Emily wince. “This looks like a serious case of lymphangitis and cellulitis.”

“I’d like the natural remedy if possible, Doctor.”

“One moment.”

Harvey stepped out of the room. He rolled his eyes. He facepalmed. He knew that if he pushed the antibiotics too hard, or if he didn’t give a good enough reason to take them, Emily wouldn’t comply. He knew that she wanted to feel active in her own care. He’d have to think quickly and tell a convincing story.

He walked to the front desk and grabbed a bottle of antibiotics and a towel. As an afterthought, he got a small pad of paper and a pen out of the desk.

When he came back in the room, he handed Emily the pen and paper. “I have a possible solution. A probable solution, even. It will require some work on your part, but this will help your body do its best work to heal you.”

“I like the sound of that!” 

“First, you’ll need to heal the wound itself. Warm compresses are great for this. They will keep the skin open and let the toxins drain out.” Harvey smirked to himself as he ran hot water over the towel. “Here, we can even start that treatment now.” He wrung out the towel and put it on Emily’s afflicted arm. “Use a warm compress, three times per day.”

“Next you’ll need some very strong antibiotics, which I’ll provide,” he said quickly, “And some probiotics to maintain harmony in the ecosystem of your gut. Yogurt is good for this, but kombucha and kefir are even better.”

“I just made a batch of kombucha!” Emily was beaming.

“Very good, that’ll be perfect! And keep wearing those crystals.” Harvey tried his hardest to keep a straight face.

“Thank you, doctor.”

“Until you’re done with the complete course of antibiotics and the skin heals completely, please wrap the wound with an occlusive dressing if you need to clean the cage. We don’t want any bacteria from bird dander or feces getting in there.” 

While Emily took notes, Harvey bagged up her pills. He continued talking. “For the next couple days, rest and relax. Keep the wound elevated. It would be a good time to catch up on any books you’d like to read or shows you’d like to watch. And next time the parrot bites you hard enough to break the skin, come back to the clinic for some coconut oil-based healing salve.”

After a quick goodbye, Harvey sent Emily on her way. His next stop was the front desk, where he pulled up a search engine: “can i mix bacitracin with coconut oil”

Before he could write a recipe for himself, the phone rang.

“Medical clinic, this is Harvey.”

“Hey, Doctor, it’s Maru!”

“Hi, Maru. Need the schedule for this week?”

“If only! I need a house call, sir. I’m pretty sure my dad broke his foot.”

“Alright, tell me exactly what happened.” Harvey put the schedule down, and instead, picked up a wire-bound pad of triage cards.

“Well, he dropped a heavy box of paperwork on his foot…you can probably hear him cussing up a pollution back there.”

After a quick conversation, Harvey determined that he should drive the clinic’s golf cart up to the mountain house to check Demetrius out there. He grabbed a jump kit and the golf cart keys, then pulled the cart out from the back of the building. Something about the cart felt a little off.

He crept around the building to the front of his clinic and the General Store, then pressed the accelerator. His back slammed into the seat.

“Whoa!” He let off the accelerator, then pressed it again, more gently. The rocks under the tires crunched as the cart picked up speed. As he drove up the mountain, he realized that not only did the cart accelerate faster than it did before, its top speed was higher. The speedometer was pegged at 20 and the cart kept accelerating. 

Harvey let out a nervous little giggle and floored it. The cart practically jumped up the path between the community center and the mountaintop, despite the steep incline. Maru must have done something to the cart. 

When Harvey pulled up to the house, he hit the brakes, expecting a long and slow stop. The cart stopped immediately, ramming Harvey’s knees into the dashboard. “Gah! Yoba!” He slowly drove the cart to where he intended to park, turned it off, and walked stiffly inside.

“Harvey! I’m glad you’re here!” Maru closed the door after him. “My dad is in the lab.”

“Alright. What did you do to the cart?”

Maru cackled with glee. “Repurposed performance engine, new suspension, and new 700 amp controller! Anti-lock brakes, too! Do you like it?”

Harvey giggled. “I’d like it more if I wasn’t about to transport a patient with severe pain upon limb manipulation, but...yeah, it’s honestly pretty cool.”

Maru cringed. “Sorry, Doctor. I thought you’d have used it by now so you’d be used to the new speed.” She opened up the jump kit and grabbed a couple pairs of blue gloves. “Anyway! Demetrius is 43, chief complaint is a possible fracture of one or more tarsals and metatarsals. At approximately 14:35, he was carrying a box of paperwork, that one over there,” she said, pointing. “It slipped out of his left hand and he dropped it on his left foot. The edge made contact with the top of his foot. He has a history of high blood pressure, shin splints, and plantar fasciitis, and he takes pravoloxinone. He has four ibuprofen on board and is complaining of what I would assume to be 10/10 pain.”

“Well done! Why are you assuming his pain level?”

“Because he has yet to say anything but swear words,” Maru said flatly.

“Reasonable.” 

He knelt down by Demetrius, who was laying on the floor of the lab with his foot propped up on Maru’s backpack. “Good afternoon, Demetrius!”

Demetrius glanced up at Harvey. Tears were streaming down his face.

“What’s your pain level?”

Demetrius roared out a swear word.

“Let’s make that not the case anymore. Maru, set me up for a line, please.”

“Sure thing.” Maru opened the jump kit and began removing supplies. 

“We’ll need to take your shoe off to assess your injury,” Harvey said.

More swearing.

“Hey Dad, can Dr. Harvey cut your shoelaces?” 

Demetrius nodded.

Harvey took out a pair of trauma shears and tried his best to gently cut through the shoelaces. As he wriggled the scissors under the bow, Demetrius screamed and smacked his hand away.

“Patient did not tolerate shoe removal…” Harvey spoke to nobody in particular.

“You know you probably bought yourself a trip to the hospital, right, Dad?” Maru asked. She deftly tied a tourniquet around his arm and went to work starting an IV.

Harvey sighed. “Yeah, probably better call an ambulance. Maru, will you do that please while I get some pain medication on board?”

“Yes, sir.” After she taped and flushed the line, Maru grabbed the phone from the front counter of the Carpenter’s Shop and stepped outside.

By the time the ambulance pulled up, about half an hour later, Demetrius was happy and woozy. His shoe was off. His sock was off. His foot was very obviously broken, and splinted to keep it from moving.

“Maru…” Demetrius spoke slowly. “You should be a doctor.”

“No!” She laughed. “Being a nurse is interesting and it pays for my robotics supplies, but there’s no way I could do this day in and day out! I just like working on machines too much to give it up, and I’d have to if I became a doctor.”

“You should be…a robot doctor!” He giggled.

The Joja Medical Response crew, two young men, walked in without knocking. They had a jump kit stacked on a stretcher.

“Where’s our patient?”

Harvey glared at the crew. “Hello, gentlemen. My name is Dr. Harvey.” He gestured to Demetrius. “This is your patient, Mr. Demetrius, a 43-year-old male with what appears to be multiple compound fractures in his left foot caused by dropping a heavy box on the foot. He has pain meds on board.” He patted Maru on the back. “This is my assistant, Nurse Maru, who is also the patient’s daughter.” 

Sebastian, upon hearing the unfamiliar sound of the stretcher, came upstairs.

Harvey pointed to him. “That is the patient’s stepson, Mr. Sebastian.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Mr. Sebastian?”

Harvey nodded firmly. “This is the patient’s wife, Mrs. Robin.” He emphasized every honorific title. “And what are your names?”

Demetrius giggled from his spot on the floor.

“I’m Ben,” said the young man at the front of the stretcher.

“I’m Mark.” The young man at the back of the stretcher grabbed the jump kit.

“And your levels of training…?”

“EMT,” they said in unison.

Harvey’s eyes narrowed. His face seemed to darken. “I’ll be riding with you, then.”

Both young men squirmed.

Maru spoke up. “I told ‘em what was going on and to send a paramedic!”

“I don’t doubt that,” Harvey said. “I’m not surprised, just disappointed. Maru, will you please take the cart back to the clinic and lock up?”

“Sure!” She turned to Robin. “Are you riding to the hospital with Dad?”

“Nope, driving myself so I can get him home.”

“Alright, will you wait for me?”

“Sure.” Robin turned to Sebastian. “Sebby, honey, are you coming with me?”

“Nope.” 

With that, the ambulance crew loaded Demetrius up. Harvey followed them out to the ambulance and climbed in back. Maru drove the golf cart down the mountain, purposefully hitting rocks to test the new suspension she’d put in. Robin got in her truck and followed Maru to the clinic, then drove herself and Maru to Zuzu General to meet Demetrius.

As soon as everyone had left the house, Sebastian made his way to the kitchen. He put two pots of water on the stove to boil, then put on the rubber gloves and started doing dishes. When the family arrived home, they’d find a clean sink, a few servings of pumpkin soup, and a few servings of spaghetti.


	2. Busy Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clinic is busy today, with Gus coming in for a checkup, Abigail and Elliott feeling sick, and Alex and Jodi getting injured.

“What’s on the schedule today?” Harvey walked into the clinic from upstairs, carrying two cups of coffee. One had an M written on it in dry-erase marker.

“This is a super gift! Thank you!” Maru took her coffee. “We have Gus in for a checkup at 9:00, Abigail for a sick appointment at 11:00, she’s complaining of nausea, and Elliott in for a sick appointment at 2:00 for flu-like symptoms.”

“I hope this isn’t the start of an early flu season around here...do we have enough face masks?”

“More than enough,” Maru said. “We have a full box behind the counter, plus three more in the storage closet.”

“How are we on gloves?”

“Running low on smalls, but I’ve already put an order in for another case.”

“Will you do a quick diagnostic check on the ultrasound machine, please?”

“Sure. How come?”

“We may need to use it today.” Harvey smiled. “We have a middle-aged male with a history of blood clots, a female in her 20s complaining of nausea...and flu-like symptoms could mean just about anything!”

“Good point.” Maru headed toward the procedure room. At the last second, she turned around, ran back, grabbed her coffee, and made her way toward the procedure room again.

As soon as the clock struck 9:00, Gus walked in. He looked surly and reluctant.

“Good morning, Gus!” Harvey, by contrast, was chipper.

“I’m here for my 9:00.”

“Very good! It looks like the last time I saw you was nearly four years ago.”

“Correct.” Gus looked down at the counter.

Harvey typed some information into his computer. “I also show that you have Ferngill Veterans Aid, so all your visits are free.”

Gus sighed. “Yes, sir.”

“Come on back. We’ll start by getting your height and weight, your vitals, do a quick checkup, and see if we can make a plan to get you in here more often.”

Gus followed Harvey back to the scale with a sullen look on his face. 

“Step on the scale, please.”

Gus stood in front of the scale. He turned around and took a step backwards, so he was facing the doctor rather than the scale. 

Harvey measured his height, glanced at his weight, then silently wrote the numbers down. “Thank you, Gus. Follow me.”

In the exam room, Harvey took vitals. He looked inside Gus’s mouth, nose, and ears; then listened to his heart, lungs, and bowels.

“Gus, two things are concerning me right now.” Harvey sat down across from Gus.

“I know, one of ‘em is my weight…” Gus grumbled.

Harvey smiled. “Actually, Gus, you’ve lost about 10lbs since the last time I saw you. You are still significantly overweight, and while that’s not ideal, you’re not gaining. That’s good! My first concern is your vitals. Your blood pressure is high, and so is your pulse. My other concern is the fact that you haven’t been here in four years, and that time, it was an emergency.” 

“Oh.”

“All of this put together tells me that you don’t feel comfortable coming here. Is that true?”

“Well, yeah, I don’t wanna get yelled at for being fat…and I don’t want my real medical problems to be blamed on my size, like the doctor at Zuzu General did when I was there...” His voice was low.

The loudspeaker crackled to life. “Urgent in the procedure room.” Maru spoke calmly.

Harvey walked over to the phone in the exam room and broadcast over the loudspeaker himself. “Treat symptoms to comfort and wait.” He hung up and walked back to Gus. “Now, where were we? You’re uncomfortable coming in. You’ve had a bad experience with a doctor in the past who blamed your weight for an unrelated illness.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Gus, being obese can cause or exacerbate all kinds of maladies. That said, you are more than your weight. You’re my patient! On top of that, you’re an excellent chef and bartender. You’re funny and compassionate. You give great advice. And just like all of us, you have a body that deserves to be treated for illness and injury, no matter how it happens. If you’d like to lose weight, I can help you. I recommend that you do, but no matter what, I will do my best to diagnose and treat any problem you have.”

“Oh!” Gus sat up a little straighter. “Thank you, doctor.”

“I’m concerned about your high pulse and blood pressure, but at the same time, I wonder if it could be an effect of your fears about coming to the clinic. I’d like to take your vitals again, and soon. Can I stop by the Saloon tonight or tomorrow and grab a quick blood pressure?”

“Tonight or Saturday, please. Friday is the busiest day of the week.”

“Right, that makes sense.” Harvey jotted down some notes. “Before I start you on medication that you may or may not need, I’d like to get your vitals in an environment where you’re more comfortable.”

“Thank you! I appreciate that. Now, do you need to go treat another patient?”

“Eventually, yes. Maru can do quite a bit on her own, though, she’s a great nurse. Do you have any other medical concerns that are bothering you?”

In the procedure room, Maru was busy splinting Alex’s foot.

“When do you think I can get back in the gym?” Alex winced as Maru wrapped his foot.

“No idea,” she said plainly. “Dr. Harvey will know, and he can also refer you to a sports medicine doctor if that’s what you need.”

“I want to go to the Tunnelers combine! Gridball players from all around the area will be there, showing off their skills for Tunnelers scouts. This could be my chance to go pro!”

Harvey walked into the procedure room. “Alex! Hello, I heard you and Maru talking. When is the combine?”

“About three weeks from now.”

“If possible, I’d like you to go, too. What I’ll do is x-ray your foot, then refer you to sports medicine at Zuzu General. To put it in gridball terms, I’m punting.”

Alex laughed weakly. “Thanks.”

After an x-ray, a thorough exam, and some questioning, Harvey diagnosed Alex with a sprain, and referred him to someone who could help him make it to the combine. He barely had time to catch his breath when Abigail walked in.

“Hi, Abigail! Checking in?” Maru asked.

Abigail averted her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Alright. I have some paperwork for you to fill out.” She set a clipboard down on the counter. “Any chance you could be pregnant?”

“Shut up.”

Maru pressed her lips together. She closed her eyes for a second so she wouldn’t roll them. She put on her sweetest customer service voice. “Everything that happens here is confidential. It does not leave this clinic. If you’d like, you may fill out the paperwork and bring it into the exam room so I don’t see it. It’ll go directly to Dr. Harvey that way.”

“I’ll do that.” Abigail took the paperwork and walked to a chair in the waiting room. 

A few minutes later, she was back in the exam room with Harvey. 

“So, Abigail, tell me exactly what’s going on.”

Abigail’s eyes welled up with tears. “My period’s a week late and I’ve been throwing up for the past couple days.”

“Is there any chance you could be pregnant?”

Abigail nodded. “I had a one-night stand about a month ago.”

“Well, let’s have you take a test.”

Abigail nodded again. Her lower lip was trembling.

“No matter what happens,” Harvey said reassuringly, “you’ll get the medical care you need without judgment or shame from me.” He explained the pregnancy test and sent Abigail on her way.

Fifteen minutes later, after the test and an unfortunate vomit incident, Abigail and Harvey were back inside the exam room. Abigail’s hair was up in a messy ponytail. It was obvious that she’d been crying.

Harvey read the test and gave her a gentle smile. “Abigail, you’re not pregnant.”

“Thank Yoba!”

“You know, the symptoms of worrying about pregnancy can mimic an actual pregnancy in a cruel way. Stress can delay menstruation, and cause nausea and vomiting.”

Abigail let out a sigh. “My body is so rude!”

Harvey laughed. “Yeah, honestly, it is. I’d like to rule out an unrelated stomach issue, though. Have you eaten anything that may have caused this? Hot or cold food out at room temperature? Crystals or gems contaminated with heavy metals? Anything cursed?”

“Nothing at room temperature. My dad cooked chicken last week, and it was gross, but nobody else got sick.” She looked up, as if searching her mind. “Sam dared me to eat a Lemon Stone the other night!”

“Okay,” Harvey said, pulling out a reference notebook. “That might be it.” He flipped through the notebook. “But...lemon stone is classified as edible by everyone, and is a dwarvish delicacy.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure he washed it first.”

“That could be it,” Harvey said. “For now, we’ll treat this like a typical case of gastroenteritis. Rest, hydrate, eat popsicles, and tell your parents that you’ve been vomiting so they know to disinfect your shared spaces.”

Harvey reached in a drawer under the sink and pulled out a few boxes. “I’d also like you to start taking birth control.”

“My dad would kill me if he found pills.”

“We can give you a shot or an IUD so your parents won’t know.”

Abigail’s eyes widened. “Really? But wouldn’t they get the bill?”

“Nope! The Ferngill Republic covers this stuff 100%. I can set up an appointment if you’d like. Abigail, you are an adult. Even though you live with your parents, and they still have considerable influence over you, you get to choose what you do with your body. If you’d like an appointment, let me know. If not, I can give you a condom to stick in your purse, just in case.”

Abigail giggled nervously. “Well, I don’t normally...need them…”

“I know.” Harvey’s voice was reassuring. “And I know this is all super awkward. But it’s something we need to talk about, as a doctor and a patient, because this impacts your future.”

“True…” 

After a few more minutes of discussion, Abigail left the exam room. On her way out of the waiting room, she saw the farmer, who wanted to talk, like always.

“Hey, Abigail! What’s up?”

“I’m just here for my annual checkup,” she said quickly. “Don’t worry, I’m not preg--I mean, I’m not sick! Heh.” With that, she scurried out of the clinic.

The farmer, now thoroughly confused, gave Harvey and Maru each a coffee.

Elliott came in right behind the farmer. It was obvious that he was sick. His hair was pulled up in a bun. He was wearing pajamas. He was pale and sweaty, and he was breathing hard. 

“You didn’t walk here, did you?” Harvey asked.

“No. The farmer was kind enough,” Elliott said, still trying to catch his breath, “to take me on horseback.”

“Good. Please put on a mask.”

As soon as Elliott slipped the elastic around his ears, Jodi practically crashed through the door. Her hand was wrapped in a towel.

“Is it an emergency?” Maru asked.

“Yes, someone put a knife in the sink and I cut the palm of my hand. It’s bad!”

Elliott started to cough. He stepped away from the counter, into the waiting room.

“Maru, take Elliott to the exam room and get vitals. I’ll examine Jodi, then see Elliott.”

“Yes, sir.” Maru turned to Elliott. “Come with me. We’ll worry about paperwork later.”

Elliott followed Maru to the exam room. Instead of sitting on the exam table, he laid down, coughing and groaning. Maru took his temperature, and saw the high fever she expected to see. His pulse was fast and his blood pressure was low. He cried when Maru blew up the blood pressure cuff, and whined about his muscles being sore.

“I’m sorry, Elliott. I’ll make sure and let Dr. Harvey know how much pain you’re in.” Maru grabbed a stethoscope. “I just need to listen to your heart and your lungs.”

Maru found Elliott’s heartbeat and heard that it was normal. His lungs were a different story. As soon as he took a deep breath, Maru’s jaw dropped. “I’ll...be right back.” She grabbed a blanket from under the exam table, covered Elliott up, and walked out into the hall.

She found Harvey looking equally horrified.

They spoke in unison. “This is bad.”

“What’s going on with Elliott?” Harvey asked.

“His lungs sound like garbage. How’s Jodi?”

“Deep laceration across her entire palm. She’s getting stitches.”

“Here?”

“Nope, hand center at Zuzu. Ambulance is on the way.”

“Alright. I’ll trade you rooms and get Jodi ready for her transfer.”

Harvey and Maru bumped fists, then walked into their respective patient rooms.

“Elliott, hello. Maru tells me that your lungs sound like garbage.” Harvey washed his hands in the sink.

Elliott let out half a chuckle, then began to cough. Harvey used the opportunity to listen to Elliott’s lungs. “Huh. Can you take a deep breath?”

Elliott tried, and was wracked by coughs again.

“Alright, come with me.”

Elliott gingerly and reluctantly sat up, eased himself off the table, and followed Harvey. They walked to a bed in the back of the clinic. 

The loudspeaker crackled. “Ambulance arrival in front.”

“Oh, Yoba,” Elliott groaned. “Is that for me?”

“No, sir. You’re being admitted here. You appear to have a serious case of pneumonia. It’s something that we can treat here, though.”

Maru sent Jodi away with the ambulance crew. After a quick conference with Harvey in the hallway, she went home to sleep, with an assignment to come in at midnight and take over Elliott’s care.

That evening, there was a knock on the clinic door. Harvey left Elliott’s bedside and answered the door. 

“Hi, Doctor. Is Elliott here?” It was Leah. She was carrying a backpack.

“He’s here, and he’s asleep,” Harvey said.

“Thank Yoba! I won’t wake him. The farmer told me he was sick, and he’s not at home, so I figured he was either here or at Zuzu General. I brought him some things.”

“That’s nice of you. You can leave them here, and I’ll give them to him when he wakes up.”

Leah set the backpack down and opened her mouth to speak. She was drowned out by Elliott’s coughing.

“Dr. Harvey…?” Elliott’s voice was weak.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Leah grabbed the backpack. “Harvey, can I go see him?”

“Yes, but--”

Leah rushed to the back room. “Elliott, I brought you some things!” She opened the backpack.

“Thank you.” He rolled over to face her.

“I brought pajamas, a brush and hair ties, three books for you to read, and…” She rummaged through the backpack. “...a rabbit’s foot for luck!”

“Leah, this is a beautiful gesture! Thank you!” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“I’ll visit tomorrow if I can,” she said. “Now get some sleep.” She pulled his blanket up over his shoulders and tucked him in.


	3. Too Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's one of the hottest days ever recorded in Stardew Valley. For the clinic, that means heat emergencies...including one brought in by ambulance from the Calico Desert.

“Oh, thank Yoba!” Haley walked into the clinic and closed the door behind her.

“Er...good morning?” Harvey put a piece of paper on a clipboard and handed it to Haley.

“There’s air conditioning here! It’s gotta be 90 Kraggs outside already!” She took the clipboard and a pen and made her way to the waiting area.

“Really! I heard today would be hot, but wow!” Harvey pulled a bottle of water out of the small refrigerator under the counter. “Water?”

“Yes, please.”

Harvey took the water bottle over to Haley. “Here you go, and you can just--”

The phone rang.

“--keep working on that!” He jogged back to the desk. “Medical clinic, this is Harvey.”

“Hello, this is EMT Christian on JMR 107, how do you copy?”

“OH! Yes! Good! Go ahead!” Harvey scrambled to grab a pen and paper.

“We’re en route emergent from Calico Desert with a 30-year-old female, altered mental status, rule out heatstroke. We’ve begun cooling with IV fluids and ice packs. Vital signs are as follows…”

Harvey wrote quickly. “Copy. Park in front. Thank you.”

Maru walked through the door as Harvey was hanging up the phone. “Good morning, Doc--”

“Go next door and get ice,” Harvey said.

“Huh? How much?”

“All of it.”

“What?” Maru walked behind the counter, set her backpack down, and opened the register.

“We have an ambulance bringing in a heatstroke patient within the next 15 minutes. Please get all the ice you can from Pierre’s.”

“Don’t we have cold packs? I ordered them…”

“Yes, but this patient is in bad shape, she’s barely conscious, and immersion in an ice bath is so much quicker than cold packs. Thanks, Maru.”

“Alright, no problem!” She grabbed the clinic’s debit card from the register and headed for the door. 

Haley walked the clipboard up to the counter.

“Thanks, Haley.” Harvey took the clipboard. “Come on back. I’m not sure if you overheard, but we do have an emergency coming in. I’ll do my best to get your checkup done quickly, but if that ambulance comes in, I’ll have to leave and have you wait.”

Haley sighed. She rolled her eyes as Harvey led her to the exam room.

“Now, let’s get your height and weight.”

Haley stepped on the scale. “UGH!” She rolled her eyes again.

Harvey put a hand out, as if to stop her anger. “Whoa. You’re still within the healthy weight range for your height, Haley.”

“Then why do I still look so...flabby?”

“Part of it is your build. Part of it is a lack of muscle tone, so some strengthening exercises would definitely help. And part of it probably has more to do with what else you’re looking at than how you actually look. I see that copy of High Fashion in your purse.”

“Oh. Yeah, that.” She chuckled nervously. “These clothes look perfect in the magazines, but when I try them on in the dressing room, I look like a pig in a dress!”

“That’s the clothing’s fault,” Harvey said. He opened the exam door for Haley.

“What?” She entered the room and took a seat, tugging at her top so it would lay right.

“If your body looks wrong in certain clothing, it’s perfectly reasonable to blame the clothing.” Harvey smiled. “It is also acceptable to blame the standards that society sets for attractiveness, many of which are idealistic at best, and dangerous at worst.”

She sighed.

“However, if you really want a leaner look, lifting weights is a good way to get that. Keep in mind that your weight, the number on the scale, may increase as you build muscle.”

“I don’t wanna look like a bodybuilder, ew!”

Harvey chuckled. “You’d need to do more than lift weights to get that look. Your sister has been lifting heavy things for work and doing dance aerobics for the past three years. If you want to know what three years of strength training looks like, just look at her.” He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Then again, she does have a different build than you. But she doesn’t look like a bodybuilder, even though she carries heavy trays and does bodyweight workouts and lifts weights at dance aerobics class.”

“I see what you’re getting at.” Haley tossed her hair. “Working out just sucks so much, though…”

“The hardest step to take is the one out the door.” Harvey grabbed a blood pressure cuff and took her blood pressure, then jotted the numbers down. He took her temperature, looked in her ears, and had her open her mouth.

“So far, so good.” He wrote more notes. “We did blood work last year, so unless there’s a problem, we don’t need to do it again this year.”

“EMS on scene!” Maru yelled. She didn’t bother with the loudspeaker.

“I have to go, our emergency patient is here. Please wait, I’ll be back to give you your shots.” With that, Harvey ran out of the exam room.

The ambulance crew had wheeled the patient inside. Harvey was delighted to see that Maru had already set up a tub full of ice water for an immersion bath in the procedure room, but that delight turned to fear when he saw the patient.

She looked terrible. She had a knot of wild, strawberry red hair on top of her head. Her skin was almost as red as her hair, and it was dry; not a drop of sweat. Her feet were propped up. She was covered with a wet blanket.

Harvey addressed the ambulance crew. “I’m Dr. Harvey. What’s going on with this patient?”

One of the EMTs, a short young man with glasses and a baseball cap, spoke. “This is Sandy. She is 30 years old. Found down in the desert, unknown downtime. The guy who found her gave us no information. When we got to her, she was barely conscious and unable to respond to our questions. We started active cooling with ice packs and IV fluids immediately, covered her with wet blankets, blasted the AC in the back of the truck, and transported emergent. She is still very confused.”

As if on cue, she spoke. “...huuhh?”

“Sandy, hi! My name is Dr. Harvey. I’ll be taking care of you today.”

“...oh...okay…” She didn’t move.

“My nurse and I are going to put you in a cold bath. I apologize in advance.” Harvey turned to Maru. “Grab her legs, please?”

“Got ‘em.” Maru slid her hands under the woman’s legs. “Oh, ick, even with the cold wet blankets, she’s burning up! Poor thing!”

“Lift on three. One, two, three!”

Harvey and Maru hoisted Sandy off the stretcher and into the deep, icy tub. Ice and water sloshed out the top as she hit the water.

Sandy yelled. She swung her arms, struggling to get out. Maru caught one arm. The other arm caught Harvey’s face, knocking his glasses across the room.

“Grab those!”

“I can’t!” Maru caught Sandy’s other hand and held her wrists tightly. She turned to Sandy. “I know this is awful. I am so sorry. We need to do this to cool you down, though. Please stay still.”

The EMT who had given report scurried across the room and grabbed Harvey’s glasses. “They’re broken.”

Harvey took the glasses. One of the arms had snapped. “Thanks for grabbing those. Got any medical tape?”

“Yes, sir!” The EMT pulled a roll of tape out of his pocket. “Want me to tape them?”

“Yes please, I’ll worry about a permanent fix later.” Harvey held his glasses together while the EMT applied tape. “Thank you, sir!”

At that moment, two things happened. First, the radios on the ambulance crew’s belts crackled to life.

“That’s us,” the EMT said. He left the clinic, pulling the radio off his belt as he walked out the door.

The second was a cacophony of beeps and buzzers from the inpatient area. Elliott! 

“Maru, are you doing alright with Sandy?”

“Yes, doctor!”

Sandy, lethargic again after her outburst, blinked hard. “Who’s...Maru?”

“That’s me. I’m Maru, I’m your nurse.”

“What the…?”

“You’re at the Pelican Town Medical Clinic. You got too hot. An ambulance brought you here. We’re cooling you down.”

Sandy let out a groan. Maru was worried; Sandy’s pulse was strong, and it wasn’t slowing down. 

Back in the inpatient area, Harvey got some surprisingly good news. The beeps and buzzers, normally signs that something had gone very wrong, were caused by Elliott turning over in his sleep. A couple of the monitoring wires had gotten disconnected.

“Oh, thank Yoba--”

“Doctor!” Maru’s voice cut through the noise. “She’s unconscious!”

Harvey ran back to the procedure room. Him and Maru hoisted Sandy out of the tub and moved her to the exam table. They covered her with a wet blanket and turned on a fan, then pointed it right at her.

“Get Elliott’s wires taken care of, I’ll get a temperature from Sandy.”

“Yes, sir.”

Maru walked back to the inpatient area to find Elliott awake, grabbing for his call button.

“Elliott, it’s me. I’ll get that beeping taken care of.” Maru put on a pair of gloves and a mask.

“Maru! Thank you.”

Maru deftly rearranged the wires in his bed, clamping and snapping things on. As she reached underneath him for a wire, her hand hit paper. She grabbed it and pulled it out. It was a folded up piece of notebook paper.

“Do you need this?” Maru held the paper up.

“Desperately! Thank you, Maru.” He took the note and clutched it against his chest. “What’s going on out there, anyway?”

“Heat stroke. Today is one of the hottest days the Valley has ever had. We got a patient from the desert, she came in by ambulance.”

“Maru, package for transport!” Harvey yelled.

“Gotta go, let me know if you need anything once things calm down!”

Maru headed back to the procedure room. She began getting Sandy ready for another ambulance ride. Harvey was at the counter, talking on the phone.

He hung up, shaking his head.

“What’s up?”

“She’s getting flown to Zuzu City, she needs to be in intensive care.”

“Oh! Dang! Okay, I guess the helicopter will be landing out front, then?” Maru peeked out the door. 

“Yeah. Call the mayor and have him shut the square down, I still need to give Haley her shots.”

Harvey made his way back to the exam room. Haley was gone. On the exam table’s paper liner, she had written a note in eyeliner pencil: “This clinic is lame, I waited forever. Call when you have time for me. --Haley”

Harvey changed the paper and threw the note away, then went back out to the procedure room to continue cooling and monitoring Sandy.

A few minutes later, Mayor Lewis came in. He was sweating heavily.

“Hello, Mayor!” Maru rummaged around in the fridge. “Need some water?”

“Yes, he does!” Harvey called from the other room.

Lewis took the water, sat down in the waiting room, and downed the entire bottle in one chug. Maru took his empty and gave him another bottle.

“Thanks. It’s hot out there!”

“Yes it is! I hope we don’t see any more heat-related emergencies today!” Maru tossed the empty in the recycle bin. She heard a rumbling outside the clinic. As she made her way to the window, the rumbling got louder, blowing dust against the clinic windows. It was the helicopter!

It seemed like it took forever for the thing to shut down. In reality, it was only a couple minutes. Two people got out of the helicopter, wheeling what looked like a hospital bed with all kinds of monitors in the door. Another person, the pilot, got out and walked around the helicopter with a clipboard and a pen, making notes.

“Hello, you must be Maru.”

“Correct. Dr. Harvey and your patient are in the procedure room.”

The crew began the long, finicky process of switching the patient from Harvey’s monitors and bed to their own, while still cooling her down as well as they could. Her eyes were open, and she would groan, but she didn’t seem to understand what was going on.

“Sandy, this is the flight crew,” Harvey said. “You are going to fly in a helicopter to Zuzu General. They will help you there. You’re very sick and we’re doing our best for you.”

The crew lifted her to their bed, and packed cold packs on and around her. After a bit of paperwork, they whisked her away into the helicopter. Again, the rumbling and the wind shook the clinic.

As the helicopter took off, Penny came into the clinic. She was carrying Vincent. Both of them were dripping with sweat. Vincent’s hair was flat; Penny’s was a windblown, stringy mess.

“Hey, the town square is closed!” Lewis stood angrily.

Penny walked right past him and plopped down on a chair. “I gotta set this kid down.” She put Vincent in the chair beside her.

He whined and groaned. “Miss Penny…my head hurts…”

“I know, Vincent. Let me catch my breath and we’ll talk to Dr. Harvey.”

Maru came over and sat down next to Penny. “Hey, are you alright? What’s going on?”

“We had just finished walking Jas home when Vincent threw up. He’s been complaining of a headache ever since we left the library, too. And I’m just...too hot.”

“Poor things! Let’s take Vincent to the exam room, and put you in the procedure room. Dr. Harvey will check you over, and you can hang out here in the air conditioning.” Maru turned to Vincent. “Hey, buddy! Can you walk with me to the exam room?”

Vincent, in a surprisingly toddler-like gesture, held his arms up at Maru. “Pick me up.”

Maru smiled softly. “Sure. Up you go!” She carried Vincent to the exam room. “Now lay down on the table. I’ll put your feet up on a pillow,” she said, putting pillows under his feet and his head, “and give you a kids’ magazine to read. Just relax there for a few minutes while I tell Dr. Harvey you’re here.”

“Okay…” He took the magazine from Maru and looked at the cover.

Maru walked back to the waiting room. Harvey was sitting with Penny.

“Maru, will you please bring Penny a bottle of water? Let’s put her in an inpatient bed since the procedure room’s still wrecked.”

Maru grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to Penny. She put her hand, still cold from the water bottle, on the back of Penny’s neck. Penny let out a groan and a little laugh, and leaned back into Maru’s hand.

“That feels so good.”

“Your neck is burning up!” Maru stood and helped Penny to her feet. “We’ll get you set up with AC and cold packs and water.”

Vincent and Penny stayed in the clinic and cooled down. Harvey sat with Vincent, had him drink sports drinks, and talked airplanes with him. He even brought down a few of his models from upstairs. Penny, Maru, and Elliott stayed in the inpatient area. While Maru monitored the patients, they talked about the latest book in the Dragon Riders series. 

Maru, Penny, and Vincent didn’t end up leaving the clinic until an hour after it closed. Harvey stayed downstairs until midnight, when Maru came back to take care of Elliott.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL, I put my twin brother in as a cameo appearance, he's the EMT with the speaking part.


	4. Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day of muscles and willpower being flaunted, pulled, and trained. Harvey arm-wrestles Evelyn, the souped up golf cart makes an appearance, and the evening ends at the Saloon.

“Good morning, Maru! How are you?”

Maru yawned and shook her head.

“How’s Elliott?”

“Sleeping. Lucky bastard.”

Harvey laughed. “How about his vitals?”

“Better than they’ve been since he was admitted. No fever. Ate dinner last night.”

“Very good!” Harvey smiled and nodded. “Just as I’d expected. Now, would you like to go straight home, or would you like to take a nap in the procedure room first?”

“Nap.” Maru gave him a sleepy glare.

“Understandable. Because Elliott is getting better, I’m giving you the next night and day off. Sleep now, go home, and don’t come back until Tuesday.”

Maru rubbed her eye, absentmindedly knocking her glasses crooked. “Thanks, doctor. This is getting tiring.”

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for Elliott and the clinic. Of course your paycheck will reflect that, as you’ll get overtime, but I want you to have this, too.” He reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small envelope.

Maru took the envelope and opened it. There was a greeting card inside, along with three slips of paper that looked like coupons. Harvey had written in the card:

“Maru, I appreciate you and your hard work. Treat yourself to some goodies at the saloon. I’ve enclosed coupons for one beer, one order of pepper poppers, and one cup of coffee. Thank you for your help. Kindly, Dr. H”

“Is that…? Oh wow, Harvey! This is spectacular!” Maru clutched the card to her chest. “I’ll get that coffee on the way home so I can stay awake until bedtime!” She put the card in her backpack, then wandered into the procedure room and turned the light off.

Just after 9:00, Robin walked in.

“Good morning, Robin! You’re not scheduled until 9:30, but we can get you taken care of early.”

“Hey, Dr. Harvey.” Her voice was weak and her breaths were shallow. “Thanks. Is Maru here? She said she was working overnight, but I usually hear from her by 9:00 when she does that.”

“Yes, actually, she’s napping in the procedure room.” Harvey pulled out a clipboard. “Elliott and I couldn’t have survived the last few days without her. She’s getting overtime and I bought her gift cards for some goodies at the saloon, but it just doesn’t seem like enough. You raised a good daughter.”

“Thank you.” Robin smiled. “Her dedicated personality and eagerness to please are all her. I raised my son the same way, and...” she sighed.

“You know, he’s a great guy,” Harvey said. “A couple weeks ago, he stopped by my clinic to give me a bottle of wine. He’d come in with a problem, followed my advice, and is feeling better, so he gave me a gift to thank me. The pleasure’s all mine, though; he helps me with electronic records and appointments, we follow each other’s advice, and we respect each other as professionals.”

“Oh, that’s great to hear! Sometimes as parents, we only focus on the problems, and try to fix them because we want our children to succeed.”

Harvey pushed the clipboard over to Robin. “Since this is a sick appointment, I’ll have some paperwork for you. Please sit in the waiting room and fill that out.”

“Um, no.”

“What?”

“I’ll fill it out here if you don’t mind. I’m not sitting down. My back just hurts too badly when I do that. The trip down here was terrible...I had Demetrius drop me off, I was laying in the back of the truck.”

“Oh, wow! Let’s get you back right away.” He led Robin to the exam room. “I want you to be able to sit and be seat belted in before you get in a vehicle again.” He opened the door. “After you, ma’am. Now, what were you doing when this pain started?”

“Building a silo on the farm. I was carrying a load of stone from the pile to the scaffolding. The farm’s cat ran right between my legs. To stop myself from tripping, I stepped back. I felt the stones wobble, so I twisted to the side. That hurt something in my back, so I dropped them.” She sounded defeated. “I know that wasn’t the best way to deal with it. At least the cat’s not hurt.”

“Knowing is half the battle.” Harvey smiled. “It’s the easy half. The difficult half is training your body to respond in an ergonomically correct way every time. You’re not in trouble; this is most likely a sprain or muscle strain. We’ll do some range of motion tests to confirm, but we’ll probably load you up on medication here and send you home with muscle relaxers. Now, please bend down as far as you can…”

After a few tests, and a few instances of Robin taking Yoba’s name in vain, she was diagnosed with a muscle strain. Harvey gave her two shots of medication to calm those inflamed muscles down and relieve her pain. 

When she was finally feeling well enough to sit, she had a ride home.

“Hey Mom! What are you doing here?”

“Muscle strain.” Her voice was sleepy. “Harvey gave me some painkillers. I can sit down now. Will you drive home, please?”

“Of course!” Maru clapped. “I didn’t wanna walk anyway!”

“Okay…” Robin grabbed her keys out of her pocket and handed them to Maru. “Thank you…”

Robin sleepily wandered out of the clinic, with a refreshed Maru to drive her home.

Not long after they left, George and Evelyn showed up for George’s quarterly appointment. Most of the time, these visits were so similar that they could be scripted. Harvey would ask how George was doing. He’d say he’s fine. Evelyn would say she’s worried. George would have high blood pressure. Harvey would instruct George to take his medication. George would grumble, and the couple would leave.

“George, have you been taking your blood pressure medication?”

“Yeah, I took it until I felt better.”

“And then what?”

“I stopped taking it. I was feeling better, I don’t need medication when I’m healthy!”

Harvey put on his Customer Service Voice. “George, you were feeling better and doing better because you took your medication. Now you are no longer healthy. Your blood pressure is dangerously high.”

“What do you know?!”

“I know that a blood pressure as high as yours can cause strokes and heart attacks.” Harvey was calm. “I know that taking this medication will prolong your life and make you feel better.”

“Yeah, and liftin’ some weights would make you live longer, but you don’t do that!” George laughed derisively. “I bet my wife could beat you in an arm wrestling match.”

“Well, she probably--” In the middle of murmuring, Harvey’s face lit up. Here was his chance. “You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that wager! If I win, you take your blood pressure meds every day!”

“And if I win,” George said, “You start lifting weights! My grandson will show you how.”

“Deal!”

Harvey and Evelyn stood on opposite sides of the exam table. They locked eyes, then locked hands.

“Talk some smack to him, honey!” George crowed.

Evelyn narrowed her eyes into a piercing glare. She spoke menacingly, knowing her hard of hearing husband would hear her tone, and not her exact words. “Thank you for indulging my husband, ya wonderful doctor!” She winked.

Harvey winked right back. “Maybe you should give him his meds every morning, Granny!”

“Don’t let him intimidate you!” George yelled. He was clearly enjoying himself. “Go on three. One! Two! Three!”

The struggle was on!

While both Harvey and Evelyn were pushing as hard as they could, it became clear to Harvey early on that he was outclassed. Even at her age, Evelyn did heavy gardening and home repairs--she could lift. Slowly, Harvey’s arm started to fall.

“Is that the best you can do?!” Evelyn yelled. As George laughed, she lowered her voice. “Should I insist that he take his pills every day, or put them in his oatmeal?”

“AUUGGGH!!” Harvey pushed back. He was able to raise his arm an inch, but couldn’t get it straight up again. Quietly, he told her, “Whatever gets them down the hatch.”

Evelyn took a deep breath. She used her remaining strength to push Harvey’s hand down, slowly but surely, until his knuckles hit the table.

“I win! Now that know-it-all’s gotta lift some weights!” George applauded.

Evelyn walked to his side. “Actually, dear, I won. Harvey lost the bet, but I won the match. And as the winner, I say you take your pills every day AND Dr. Harvey has to lift weights. From now on, I’ll bring your morning pills out to you with your coffee. You don’t have to think about a thing, just take them. And you, Doctor, will come over three days a week in gym clothes.”

Harvey and George both looked surprised and a little sheepish.

“Maybe we shoulda arm wrestled each other!” George laughed.

George got his medication refilled. Evelyn would put his pills out every morning, as promised. The couple left feeling happy, and Harvey promised them he’d see them the next day in workout gear.

He checked the schedule. Marnie would be in at 2:00, which gave him some time to run upstairs and microwave a frozen dinner. As soon as he opened the door to his apartment, though, Elliott’s bell rang.

Harvey jogged down the stairs. “Yes, Elliott?”

“Sorry to bother you. May I please have some lunch?” He was sitting up in bed, wearing a surgical mask over his nose and mouth, with an oxygen cannula and an IV connecting him to the bed.

“You’re hungry? Great! You may have oatmeal with fruit, or chicken soup.”

“Chicken soup, please. Would you care to share it with me?” The corners of his eyes crinkled to give away a hidden smile.

“That...actually sounds good. Thanks! I’ll warm it up now.” Harvey rummaged through the large freezer near the inpatient beds. “I’m glad Gus was able to cook us up a big batch of soup. I wouldn’t give you the Joja canned soup, that stuff’s terrible for you; I’d have had to call Grampleton Hospital and order some of their food for you.” He put two bowls of soup in the microwave. “Were you feeling sick before you came into the clinic the other day?”

“Yes, for a few days.” Elliott shook his head. “I think I had the flu. I’d only had it once before, as a child, but it was the same terrible muscle aches.”

“That’s what I’m thinking happened, too.” The microwave beeped. “You were one of the unlucky few who gets pneumonia from the flu.”

“I’d heard that could be a complication.”

Harvey put a bowl of soup on a tray. He set a spoon, a napkin, a packet of crackers, and a bottle of water on the tray as well, and gave it to Elliott. He then fixed up his own tray, and sat on a chair at the edge of the room. 

“No offense, Elliott. I’m not sure whether the flu and pneumonia you have is still contagious, and as the only doctor in town, I’m not going to take my chances.”

“Understandable.” Elliott pulled his mask down. “Have you read the Dragon Riders series? There’s a new book coming out about the Orc War…”

“Yes! I’m interested to see whether Princess Ulara and her army overthrow the King!” Harvey scooped up a bite of soup and blew on it. He spoke loudly, so Elliott could hear him across the room. “She should, and she can, but the King is her father!”

For the next half hour, Harvey and Elliott ate soup and discussed books. Whenever Elliott was hit by a coughing fit, Harvey would reassure him. “That’s fine, cough it up. You want that gunk out of your lungs. Good job.”

It was only 1:30 when the bell announcing a visitor to the clinic rang. “Huh. I wasn’t expecting Marnie this early.” Harvey set his tray on a table.

“Maybe it’s Leah!” Elliott’s face lit up. He put his mask on in anticipation.

Harvey washed his hands, then walked to the front counter. It was Leah, and she looked terrible. She was in pajamas. Her hair was in a messy bun. She was pale and sweaty.

“Leah! Is it an emergency?”

Leah nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, then quickly turned and covered it. Her body was wracked with coughs.

Harvey smiled and nodded.

“Understood. Did you get a flu shot this year?”

“Isn’t it too early?” 

“Flu isn’t common in the summer, but it happens. Considering that you visited Elliott the other day, I think it’s a definite possibility for you. Please put on a mask and head back to the exam room with me.”

“Ugh.” Leah grabbed a mask and put it on. She followed Harvey to the exam room, stopping by the inpatient beds to wave at Elliott.

“Oh! My dear!” Elliott stood, then quickly sat back down, holding his head.

Given Leah’s history, it didn’t take long for Harvey to diagnose her with the flu. Her illness wasn’t bad enough to get her admitted, but Harvey didn’t want her walking home, either. He offered to let her stay in the inpatient area until the clinic closed, when he’d give her a ride home in the golf cart. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Elliott and Leah were talking, giggling, and coughing.

Marnie came in for her appointment, looking thoroughly embarrassed. When Harvey got her back to the exam room, she could only gesture toward her pelvic area and say, “It hurts...down there. This is completely confidential, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” Harvey took a deep breath. “Now, Marnie, knowing that nobody else will find out about this, what is going on?”

“Pelvic pain and tenderness...I think I might have an infection, and I really hope I don’t.”

“Me too, but we’ll find out soon enough. Lay down, please.”

Marnie sighed and laid on the exam table. Harvey pressed on her belly. She kept a straight face. He pressed lower, near the belly button. She kept a straight face. He pressed lower.

“Yoba!!” She sat up. “That really hurt!”

“Sorry. I know that’s not pleasant. What were you doing when you first noticed this pain?”

“Throwing hay bales.”

“Maybe you pulled a muscle.”

“Well, they were the light ones!” Marnie was indignant.

“Right. Doing quick, repetitive motions like throwing can cause muscle strains. That’s probably what happened to you. We can definitely check for infection, though, if you have reason to believe you may have one.”

Marnie asked for a full workup. Luckily for her, she came back perfectly healthy, with her pain most likely being caused by a muscle strain. Harvey told her to rest for a few days and make Shane throw the hay bales. 

The clinic closed at 3:00pm, which was a miracle in and of itself given the crazy week they’d had. 

“Leah, are you ready to go home?”

“Give me just a minute.” Leah slowly dragged herself out of bed. Instead of walking toward the front, though, she walked up to Elliott. “Thanks for keeping me company this afternoon.”

“The pleasure was all mine, my dear! Maybe when we both feel better, we can take that walk on the beach and look in the tide pools, just like we were talking about.”

“That sounds amazing. Well, not right now--right now, even walking to the kitchen sounds like too much. But later. You know what I mean. Good luck, I hope you get out soon.”

“Me too, I’ve composed so much of this story in my head and can only write my notes by hand!” He pulled his mask down and gave Leah a sweet smile. “I’ll be thinking of you fondly, darling.”

Leah’s face flushed a bright red. “Thank you, Elliott.” She started to say something else, and got caught up in a coughing fit.

“Take it easy, Leah,” Harvey said. “I’ll send some cough syrup and cough drops home with you.” He packed up a bag. “I’ll pull the golf cart around.”

Leah made her way to the front door. She gingerly sat down in the golf cart. “Thanks for the ride home.”

“Not a problem. Maru recently upgraded the suspension on the cart--among other things--so the ride will be smooth for you and won’t aggravate your muscle aches.”

“Maru upgraded it herself?”

“She did! She’s a genius when it comes to mechanics.”

“I know.” She gave Harvey a hesitant cringe. “Does this thing have seat belts?”

“Yes, ma’am, yours should be on the far right side.”

Leah silently buckled her seat belt. Harvey drove her home, taking care to keep the speed at a reasonable level. He helped her inside, turned down her bed, and set a glass of water and her cough medicine on the nightstand.

When he got back out to the cart, he buckled his seat belt with a crooked smile. He floored it. He zigzagged through the trees, did a long lap around the lake, then headed back to town, only slowing when the tires hit pavement. His hair was wild, and so was the smile on his face.

Before he went back to the clinic, he stopped at the saloon. He took his jump kit inside.

“Harvey!” Gus waved from behind the bar. “Good afternoon, sir! What can I get for ya?”

“Coffee and vital signs, please!”

“Oh, that’s right. You did want those. Well, let me get your coffee first.”

“Thank you!” He set his kit on a bar stool and opened it up. 

As he was pulling out his stethoscope and blood pressure cuff, Pam walked in. “What’s with the medical kit?” She peeked over his shoulder. “Someone dying?”

“I hope not,” Harvey said. “I’m just checking Gus’s vital signs. Want me to check yours?”

“That depends, are you gonna charge me?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Go ahead, then.” Pam shrugged.

“Alright. Gus is first, then you.” Harvey took a sip of his coffee. “Gus, this is wonderful! Is this the new stuff from the farm?”

“Summer Special, light roast.” Gus poured a cup for himself. “It doesn’t taste strong, but it packs a punch!”

“Before you drink that, roll up your sleeve, please.” Harvey wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Gus’s arm. “I don’t want caffeine to affect our results.”

“Noted.” Gus stood still while Harvey took his pulse and blood pressure.

“Just as I suspected, you have White Coat Syndrome!” Harvey laughed.

“Gaah!” Gus shook his head. “Dammit, does this mean I gotta come back?”

“Sorry, sir, medical humor.” Harvey took the cuff off. “What it means is that you get nervous in doctor’s offices and hospitals. Your vitals are good! Your blood pressure is actually lower than I thought it would be.”

“Oh! Thanks, doctor. In that case...I guess I’ll be back next year, unless I get sick.”

“I appreciate that.” He turned to Pam. “Are you ready?”

Pam took a drink of beer. “Do your worst!”

A dark smile spread across Harvey’s face. “Are you sure? Alright...roll up your sleeve.”

Pam pushed her sleeve up. Harvey quickly took a blood pressure and a pulse, then grabbed his coffee and sat down at the stool next to Pam’s.

“Am I dying?” Pam laughed.

“Not yet, though not for lack of trying.” 

“WHAT?!”

“Your blood pressure is dangerously high. So is your pulse. You’re overweight. And perhaps most worryingly, you’re under the influence of alcohol at 4:00pm, and that is not a surprise to anyone here.”

“You damn know-it-all! I hope Yoba pisses on your grave!” Pam leapt off her stool and jabbed her finger into Harvey’s chest.

“Hey!” Gus reached across the bar and put a hand on Pam’s shoulder. “Language, honey.”

Harvey took Pam’s angry pointing hand in both of his, folding his hands as if in prayer. “I know you think I’m going to give you a laundry list of unpleasant recommendations...stop the alcohol, eat a vegetable now and then, get some exercise...but I want to meet you where you are.” He smiled softly. 

Pam raised one eyebrow.

“Instead of four beers every night, why don’t you make it three and an order of parsnip soup?” 

“That’s it?” Pam glanced up at Gus.

“That’s it for now, unless you want to take the long way home, too. Every little thing you can do helps; one fewer beer, one fewer cigarette, one more vegetable, one more step. Make small changes that you can stick to. Learn new habits, then make more small changes.” Harvey dropped Pam’s hand and waved Gus over. “May I please have an order of parsnip soup for Pam? Put it on my tab.”

“You sure? You don’t have to…”

“Yes ma’am. I know you like it, and I want you to enjoy it.”

“Hey, hey! Now that’s really something! Thanks a million, Doc.”


	5. Minor Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a day of bumps, bruises and scrapes. Sebastian spends the day in the clinic, too, programming computers.

“Good morning, Doctor!” Maru called to the clinic, which appeared empty. She was already dressed in her scrubs.

“Good morning, I’m upstairs!” Harvey’s voice sounded distant. “Just a second!”

Maru turned to Sebastian, who had come to work with her. “He’ll be down soon. I’ll start opening up. Just hang out in the waiting room.”

Sebastian shrugged and took a seat. He pulled his laptop out of its case and booted it up.

The door to the stairs opened. Harvey walked awkwardly out, carrying three coffee cups. Maru’s was marked with an M, Sebastian’s was marked with an S. He set his and Maru’s coffees down on the front counter.

“Hi, Sebastian. I brought you coffee.” Harvey held out Sebastian’s coffee.

“Thanks, I like this.” He took a sip. “I’ll probably end up being here most of the day to work on the new electronic medical interface. Is now a good time to talk design, or should I start building the framework to integrate this with the scheduling and the records?”

“Let’s talk design. I don’t have any appointments scheduled today.” Harvey turned to Maru. “All you have to do today is front desk. I’m going to meet with Elliott a little later to talk about his discharge plan--”

“--my what?!” Elliott let out an excited yell from the inpatient area. “I’m going home?! Thank Yoba’s Divine Providence!”

“Dang, that was some nice yelling with no coughing.” Maru gave Harvey a thumbs up.

Harvey popped his head into the inpatient area. “Correct, sir! And your lung function seems to have improved drastically.” He laughed. “Let’s plan on me taking you home when the clinic closes, unless something changes.”

“Yes, sir! I’ll get my things packed.”

“Don’t rush, please, you have all day and I still want you resting.” He turned to Sebastian. “Why don’t you come upstairs with me? It’s more comfortable up there. Besides, if someone comes in and they’re sick, I don’t want you to be exposed.”

“Sure.” Sebastian grabbed his laptop and his coffee and followed Harvey upstairs.

Harvey opened the door to his apartment and gestured around awkwardly. “This is it. You can take your shoes off and stretch out on either couch, there’s coffee in the pot, there’s filtered water in the fridge…”

“Wow.” Sebastian looked around the apartment, taking it all in. “I didn’t know you were into planes.”

“Yeah.” Harvey shrugged. “Aviation is fascinating. I’ll move the model I’m working on so you have room on the table…” He felt his cheeks getting hot. He really didn’t want to go into why he was so fascinated with planes, not now.

Luckily, Sebastian didn’t push the issue. Instead, he opened up his laptop. “Thanks. No hurry. I’m just getting my notepad pulled up.” He took a sip of his coffee. As Harvey walked back to the couches, Sebastian spoke again. “Since you’re the one who does the majority of the charting, will you please tell me what you like about writing on paper? I want this to be as easy for you as possible so you can focus on patient care instead of the computer.”

Downstairs, Maru had finished giving Elliott his breakfast and cleaning the front counter. She saw Vincent and Jas running through the town square, playing tag. Vincent was chasing Jas.

Jas tripped. It looked like she fell right on her face! Vincent couldn’t stop in time. He jumped over her, wildly flailing his arms and legs. As soon as he landed, he fell on his backside and giggled.

He noticed that Jas was crying. Maru saw him help Jas up, brush her off, and talk to her for a minute. They both looked over at the clinic. 

Maru walked out from the counter and opened the door. “Jas, are you okay? Come inside!”

Jas sniffled. “Okay, Miss Maru…” She stiffly walked inside, with Vincent hovering around her and watching closely.

“What happened?”

“I tripped and fell and got an owie.” She looked down at her knees. Both of them were scraped. “Two owies. And maybe I hurt my face, too…”

“Yeah!” Vincent piped up. “And then I jumped all the way over her so I wouldn’t crash into her!”

“I saw that, Vincent, it was pretty cool!” Maru knelt down. “So, here’s the plan, kiddos. You’re both coming back to the exam room with me. Vincent, you’ll wash your hands, and then you’re free to go if you want. Jas, I’ll bandage up your knees and check your face for owies.”

Both kids followed Maru to the exam room. She lifted Vincent up to the sink so he could wash his hands, then lifted Jas up to the exam table. 

“Jas, I see a little owie on your forehead. Can you tell me, again, exactly what happened?”

Jas nodded. “I was playing tag with Vincent and he was it. I tripped over something--”

“--and then she fell on her face and her knees!” Vincent interrupted.

Maru stepped back and looked at Vincent. “Please don’t interrupt. I need to make sure Jas didn’t hurt her brain.”

“That can’t happen, Miss Maru!” Vincent laughed. “Because her brain is inside of her skull!”

Jas held up one pointer finger. “Actually, if you bump your head hard enough, you can get a concussion. Your brain gets hurt.”

“That’s right, Jas! I’ll tell Miss Penny to give you a Star Point next time I see her.” Maru grabbed her pen light. “I’m going to shine this in your eyes. It’s not fun, but it’s an important test. Keep those eyes open.” Maru shined her pen light into the kid’s eyes. She nodded and stepped away.

“Can I blink now, Miss Maru?”

“Yes, please do!” Maru laughed. “I’m going to have some questions for you.” She turned to Vincent. “Vincent, please don’t answer these.”

“Okay!”

Maru turned to Jas. “Do you feel dizzy?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Do you feel tired?”

“Um...I wanna sit and be lazy and not play tag.”

“Do you want to take a nap?”

“No.”

“On a scale of one to ten, where one is very bad and ten is normal, how do you feel now?”

“Well.” Jas took a deep breath. “One of my knees hurts, and my other knee hurts, and my head hurts, so that’s three parts that hurt, so...seven.”

“Now, please tell me the days of the week in reverse order. Start with the last day of the week and go to the first day,” Maru said.

“Saturday.” Jas looked up and out, as if to search her brain. “Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday, Sunday.”

“Great!” Maru wrote on her clipboard. “Now we’ll have you get down and move around a little bit. I’ll help you down, and then you’ll walk over to Vincent.” Maru lifted Jas down and set her on the opposite side of the room from Vincent. She walked over to him.

“Hi.”

“Hi Jas!” Vincent giggled.

“Jas, please hold your arm straight out, then use one finger to boop yourself on the nose.”

Jas did as Maru asked. Vincent did the same.

“Oops! Sorry, Miss Maru, you told me not to answer!”

Maru laughed. “It’s fine!” She turned to Jas. “Now, one more time, tell me exactly what happened.”

“You should have written it down.” Jas spoke with a hint of haughty admonishment. “Writing things down helps you learn, that’s what Miss Penny says.”

Maru pressed her lips together to hide a laugh. “Miss Penny is correct. And I wrote it down. I just need to make sure you remember.”

“Okay. Well. We were playing tag. I tripped and fell and hit my knees, and then I hit my face. And then Vincent jumped over me and landed on his butt!”

Both kids giggled.

The bell on the front door rang. Someone had come in. Maru heard Harvey talking to them.

“Alright, Jas! I’m pretty sure you don’t have a concussion. I’m going to bandage up your scrapes, and then I’ll call your Aunt Marnie and tell her what happened.”

“Why? Am I in trouble?”

“No, I just don’t want her to worry when she sees her niece come in all covered in bandages.” 

The loudspeaker crackled. “Need routine assistance in the procedure room.”

Maru picked up the phone and answered over the speaker. “Five minutes.”

“That’s so cool!” Vincent jumped up and ran over to the phone. “Can I try?”

“No,” Maru said, “I’ll actually need your help bandaging up Jas. Please get some gloves on.”

“Really?” Both kids asked in unison.

“Well, I could do this by myself, but it’s so much easier with an extra pair of hands. Vincent, the first thing I’ll need you to do is…” She squirted some soap into a bowl. “...fill this with water. It’ll get sudsy.”

Vincent filled the bowl while Maru got a washcloth, bandages, and ointment.

“Next, open these three packs of gauze and set them on the exam table.”

Maru got the washcloth wet and started washing Jas’s knee.

“Ow!” Jas recoiled. “That hurts!”

“It’s okay, Jas!” Vincent dropped the gauze pads on the table and ran to her side.

Maru kept washing. “You must have gotten some gravel in there or something...I’ll be as gentle as I can, and I’ll use medicine that’ll make it stop hurting soon, but I have to get these clean.”

“Okay. It really hurts, though.” 

“Um, Jas?” Vincent patted her on the hand. “You’re being really brave. Miss Maru is almost done.”

“He’s right, you know.” Maru gently dabbed Jas’s forehead with the washcloth. “And this scrape isn’t nearly as bad as the one on your knees.”

Maru had Vincent tear off lengths of medical tape, which he loved, while she put medicine on the scrapes. She got the bandages on, called Marnie, then dismissed the kids. She stayed in the exam room to clean up.

Not even a minute after the kids left, they came running back in and screaming. “Miss Maru! Miss Maru!”

“What’s going on?”

Both kids started yelling at a mile a minute. Maru picked out the words “Mr. Clint,” “burn,” and “gross.”

“Oh, thank you for letting me know. I’ll walk you two out and get him some help.”

Maru and the kids walked out. Maru ushered the kids past Clint and sent them on their way.

To the kids’ credit, Clint did look gross. His left arm was red and inflamed, covered in blisters, and his face was dirty and smeared with the remnants of tears. 

“Hi, Clint. One moment.” 

Maru popped her head into the procedure room, where Harvey was examining Willy. “Clint just showed up with what looks like some second-degree burns.”

“Oh...phooey.” Harvey shrugged. “Trade places with me?”

“Yes sir. Willy just needs that hook out, right?”

“Thanks! Yes!” Harvey went to the cart and pulled out the wire cutters. “And some antibiotic cream and aftercare instructions, of course.”

“Yes, sir.” Maru took the wire cutters and walked up to Willy. “Good morning, sir! Sorry we have to meet like this.”

“Yes it is.” Willy sighed. “It’s a great day for fishing, and here I am with a damned hook in my thumb.”

“There will be other great days for fishing.” Maru smiled softly. “What’s important now is that we get you healed up right.” Maru swabbed Willy’s hand with iodine, then picked up the clippers.

“You know how to use those things, miss?” Willy smirked.

“Of course. I spent all day Monday working on a built-in floor vacuum that uses the exact same gauge of wire.” Maru’s face lit up. “It’s so cool! All Mom has to do to get rid of the dust in the workshop is sweep it toward the vacuum door. Then the door senses the proximity of an object, opens up--that’s where the wire comes in, I made springs out of it--and once the door is open, the machine turns on the suction! It packages the dust in a container that she can either use for compost, or for cleaning up spills.”

“Not bad! You made it yourself?”

“Not entirely.” Maru gently placed the wire cutters on the fishing hook. “The vacuum motor came out of an old vacuum, the sensor was from one of those automatic wastebaskets,” she said, snapping the hook, “and the containers are old vacuum canisters from other vacuum cleaners.”

“Shoot, that’s even more impressive! Work smarter, not harder!”

Maru slid the hook out and put gauze on Willy’s thumb. “Right? It’s like delegating before the fact!”

“Wait, are you done already?”

“With the removal, yeah. Head over to the sink, please, and wash your hands.”

“I thought that was gonna hurt!”

Maru opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the front door chime ringing. She turned to Willy as she headed for the front desk. “Wash really well, then hold pressure on your thumb if it’s still bleeding.”

She jogged out to the front. “Hello, is it an emergency?”

“I’m not sure, dear…” Evelyn stood near the door. “I know that Caroline needs help.”

“Where is she?”

“Just right outside.” Evelyn pointed to the town square. Caroline was sitting on the ground. “She tripped and fell while she was bringing some more pansies to the flower box by the saloon.”

“Alright, I’ll help her inside. Thanks for letting me know.” Maru let Evelyn out, then jogged through the square to Caroline.

“Miss Maru! Hi. I think I rolled my ankle.” Caroline was sitting awkwardly on the ground, surrounded by pansies that had fallen out of their tiny garden center flats. “And I didn’t even get the damn pansies in the bed, I told Evelyn I’d do that…”

“Well, let’s get you into the clinic so we can see about your ankle. Then we can figure out the plants.” Maru helped Caroline up.

“Alright...I’m not sure I can put weight on this ankle, though.”

“Put weight on me.” Maru stood beside Caroline. 

“You’re smaller than me.”

“I’m just shorter than you!” Maru laughed. “You’d be amazed at what I can lift!”

“Okay…” Caroline put her arm around Maru. Together, they hobbled her into the clinic.

“We’re busy with a couple other patients right now, Caroline. I’ll take you back to an inpatient bed, prop your foot up, and ice it.” Maru directed Caroline to a wheelchair, then pushed her to the inpatient area.

“A visitor!” Elliott’s face brightened. “I’m sorry to meet you here, Ms. Caroline, but I’ll admit that having some company on my last day here is a pleasant surprise!”

“Thanks...I hurt my ankle, hopefully it’s nothing serious. What are you doing here?”

“Recovering from pneumonia. I get to go home today!”

“That’s good.” Caroline tried to move her ankle, wincing at the pain. “How long have you been here?”

“About...three days? Four days? Long enough to grow utterly bored with it. Leah was kind enough to bring me some books, though I’ve finished reading them all already. I’ve gotten some writing done, only handwritten notes for my novel, though.”

“Well, at least you got something done. I was helping Evelyn with the public gardens, we have all kinds of pansies that we’d like to get transplanted today before the rain.” Caroline put her hands behind her head and sighed.

It took a while for Maru to get done bandaging Willy’s thumb, Harvey to get done dressing Clint’s burns and giving him pain meds, and both of them to clean their respective rooms. 

As Maru walked toward the inpatient area, the door opened. Abigail walked in, looking frazzled.

“Hi Abigail! Is it an emergency?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.” She walked up to the counter. “Where’s my mom? Evelyn said she’s hurt.”

Maru gave Abigail her most professional smile and the Customer Service Voice. “She’s in the back right now. Dr. Harvey is working with her.”

Abigail rolled her eyes. “Can I...see her?”

“I’ll ask.” Maru walked back to the treatment area. It was her turn to roll her eyes.

“Maru?” Harvey stopped her in the hall. “Everything okay?”

Maru sighed. “Yes...Abigail’s here, she wants to see her mom. She’s been so rude and short with me, especially lately!”

“Stress can cause people to lose all decorum,” Harvey said gently. “It’s not right, but it happens.”

Sebastian approached Harvey in the hall, holding a stack of paperwork. “Who are we talking about?”

“Abigail.” Maru rolled her eyes again. “I don’t get it. I’m nothing but nice to her, and she’s always so snappy with me.”

“Oh.” Sebastian lifted the papers to cover his mouth, and hopefully to cover the smile and blush spreading across his face. He did complain to her about Maru quite a bit.

Harvey turned to Maru. “Please tell Abigail that I’ll come get her in about five minutes, once I’m done moving Caroline to the procedure room and asking confidential questions.”

“Yes, sir.” Maru walked back toward the desk.

“Dr. Harvey?” Sebastian held out the papers. “Is now a good time to go over the user interface?”

“No, I have another patient. She’ll need x-rays, so this one is mine.”

“Maru can’t do x-rays? The way her and her dad make it sound, she could build an x-ray machine from scratch! But she can’t even use one?” Sebastian laughed.

“Well, I’m sure she could...but it’s not in her scope of practice to read x-rays or determine which ones need to be taken. What can be done practically is often different from what can be done legally.”

“Ohhh…that makes sense.” He glanced up toward the desk. “Can I start implementing some of these UI changes in a test environment on the front desk computer?”

“Er...as long as it doesn’t mess with today’s records.”

“It won’t. I’ll create a test environment separate from your actual program.”

“Thanks.” Sebastian walked up to the front desk and gave Abigail a shy wave before asking Maru if it was okay to reboot the computer. Maru gave her blessing and headed to the back.

Abigail walked up to the desk. “So...do you know what’s going on with my mom? Because Maru sure doesn’t. Or if she does, she isn’t telling me.”

“I don’t, sorry…” Sebastian shook his head sadly. “I know that there’s a bunch of legal hassles about what nurses can and can’t do, though, maybe she’s not allowed to tell you?”

“I hope so, for her sake.” Abigail glared toward the back.

Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Woah, hey! She’s a pain in the ass, but to her credit, it’s rarely on purpose. She just has to do whatever Dr. Harvey tells her to do, and you know how uptight he is. And she’s totally spoiled by Demetrius, too, that’s why she’s such a clueless little brat at home.”

“Well, yeah. I can kinda see that. What are you doing here, anyway?” She leaned over the counter to look at the computer screen. A couple locks of her hair spilled over Sebastian’s arm, which caused him to turn bright red. He didn’t dare move, though.

“Programming. Harvey has an electronic medical record program. I’ve made an electronic appointment setting program for him already.” He leaned in closer to Abigail and turned the screen. “Now I’m tying the two together and making it a whole comprehensive thing.”

“Nice!”

At that moment, Sam burst through the door, pale and shaky and laughing. “Hey you guys!”

Sebastian and Abigail both jumped back to their original positions, at and behind the counter.

Sam giggled. “I just did the sickest backside 720!”

Sebastian laughed right back. “Did you land it?”

“Hell no, that’s why I’m here!” He lifted his forearms to show off strips of road rash. 

Abigail cringed. Sebastian laughed even harder. “Oh, Yoba, that is amazing...I’ll go get Maru!” Still giggling, he made his way to the back. 

Maru was just leaving the procedure room. “Done with the computer?”

“Nope, but I’ll minimize my testing environment. Sam’s here, he got some gnarly road rash on his forearms.”

“Oh, Yoba. Did he hit his head?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Good. I’ll get him and Abigail.”

Maru and Sebastian made their way up to the front. Sebastian messed around with the computer.

“Sam?”

Sam nodded his head at Maru. “‘sup?”

“Come with me, I’ll get you set up for Dr. Harvey.”

“Okay. Man, I wish you could have seen that!” 

Maru chuckled. “Me too. You’ll be in the exam room at the end of the hall.” 

Sam walked down the hall. Maru opened the door to the waiting area again. “Abigail?”

Abigail looked at her coolly.

“You’re welcome to come back and see your mom now.”

“Thanks.”

Maru opened the door to the procedure room. “Ms. Caroline? Abigail is here to see you. Dr. Harvey is grabbing some splinting supplies, he’ll be back soon. How’s your pain?”

“I only got a pain pill about five minutes ago, so it’s still about a seven.” Caroline reached her arm out as Abigail walked in the room to collect a hug from her daughter.

“Alright.” Maru reached in the small freezer by the door. “Your ice pack’s looking a little droopy, let’s swap these out.” She gave Caroline a new ice pack and took the old one. “Shouldn’t be long now. If you need anything; water, blankets, new ice pack; please let me know.”

“Thank you." Caroline smiled brightly at Maru.

“Of course.” Maru left the procedure room and met Sam in the exam room.

“Hey Maru! Are you gonna be the one patching me up?”

“Maybe. Depends on how badly you’re hurt.”

Sam showed off his arms, which were still bleeding, albeit slowly. “Um...this bad? Kinda starting to hurt now.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised!” Maru laughed. “How did this happen, anyway?”

“Okay. So I did this totally sick backside 720, right? Like, full-on grab for the entire rotation. When I landed, I almost stuck it! I was like right there! But my front foot was just a little too far forward, and the momentum carried me over the board, all like,” he sprawled forward, indicating a prone landing, “BLAAAUUGGH! Kkshshshh!! And my lower arms got totally chewed up.”

“Did you hit your head?”

“Nope! Hair is still fabulous.” Sam reached up to run a hand through his hair.

“No, don’t do that!”

“Huh?”

“Dude, the palms of your hands are scraped, and you don’t want hair germs in your wounds or road rash germs near your face!”

“Oh yeah. You know, this doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.”

“Oh, it will. Adrenaline is one heck of a drug.”

The day went on. Maru was the one who patched Sam up, since he wouldn’t need any x-rays and showed no evidence of a concussion. Caroline did need x-rays, which showed a broken ankle, and that meant more work in the store for Abigail for the coming weeks. There were no more patients.

At exactly 3:00pm, Elliott and his backpack were waiting by the front door. Maru gave Elliott a ride home, since Dr. Harvey was busy talking computer software with Sebastian. Like Harvey would have, Maru warned Elliott to take it easy and rest whenever he felt even slightly tired. In turn, Elliott warned Maru to drive slowly and safely to avoid damaging the fragile beach ecosystem. Maru complied, and made a mental note to herself to drive the cart like a bat out of hell the next time she got to go up the mountain. 

Sebastian and Harvey stayed at the clinic until the sun went down, drinking wine and talking computers.


	6. Drink Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linus is very seriously injured, Shane comes in for an appointment, and the farmer gets their butt kicked all over Skull Cavern like always.

It was a cold, rainy day. As soon as the clinic opened, Pierre walked in with a steaming mug of coffee.

“Good morning, Pierre! Is it an emergency?”

“No, sir, it’s not a problem at all. I just came by to thank you for taking care of Abigail and Caroline. And I brought you coffee.”

Harvey’s face brightened. “It’s for me? This is my favorite stuff! It’s like you read my mind.”

“No problem.” Pierre reached across the counter for a handshake, which Harvey happily obliged.

The front door chimed. Maru walked in, wearing street clothes, looking frazzled. She was soaked. Her hair was frizzy. Her glasses were fogged up.

“Hi Maru, is everything okay?” Harvey pushed his coffee aside.

“Linus.” Maru took a second to catch her breath. “Linus is really sick. I helped him down the mountain. He wants to go to the Wizard’s tower, and I’m hoping you can talk some sense into him.”

Pierre cracked a wry smile. “Are you sure he doesn’t need a veterinarian?”

“Oh, we don’t talk like that here,” Harvey said gently.

“I was just joking…”

“I know.” Harvey kept the same gentle demeanor. “But we don’t joke like that here. If you’ll excuse me, I need to step out and see what’s going on.” Harvey took a sip of coffee. “Thanks again for the coffee, sir!”

With that, Maru and Harvey left the clinic.

Harvey’s face fell when he saw Linus. He was laying on the ground in front of the window of the general store, struggling to get up. Abigail was kneeling beside him, getting soaked. 

“Linus!” Abigail held both of the wild man’s hands tightly, both to reassure him, and to keep from getting hit. “Dr. Harvey is here. Maru is here. They can help you.”

“I need…” He gasped for breath. “...Rasmodius…”

“It’s cold out here. Let’s get you inside the clinic.”

Linus let out a swear and rolled his eyes. His skin was gray. His lips were pale blue.

Maru knelt down by Abigail and turned to her. “Thank you so much for your help.” She spoke again, more loudly, to Linus. “Linus, we’re going to take you inside the clinic. It’s warm and we can give you oxygen.”

“I’m hurt…need...Ras...wizard.” His breathing was heavy and labored.

“Can we pick you up and take you inside before we get him?” Abigail asked. 

“Yeah…”

Maru breathed a sigh of relief. Her and Abigail each took an arm, leaving Harvey to grab the feet, and carried Linus to the clinic door. With his hands full, Harvey kicked the clinic door. Pierre opened it, holding the door while they came inside.

As soon as the fluorescent light hit his eyes, Linus panicked. His body tensed. He tried to yell, but could only gasp out weak requests for help.

Harvey, Maru, and Abigail set Linus on the table in the exam room.

Harvey looked pointedly at Maru and Abigail. “Thanks for your help. Now, I need Linus on oxygen, in a gown, monitor on, crash cart ready, and Rasmodius here.”

Maru and Abigail looked at each other, then back at Harvey. Maru was the first to speak. “Doctor, can I lend Abigail the golf cart?”

“Doesn’t Rasmodius have a phone?”

Abigail shook her head. “Nope. If he did, I’d have been inside calling him when you guys came out of the clinic.”

Harvey sighed. “Cart’s in back. It is much faster than most golf carts. Wear your seat belt and be careful!”

“Thanks!”

“He’s not kidding.” Maru handed Abigail the keys. “That thing has a top speed of 65 MPH now.”

“Really?!” Harvey and Abigail spoke in unison.

Maru giggled. “It’s probably even faster on pavement, but it’s not street legal so I didn’t try my luck.” She handed Abigail the keys.

“Nice!” Abigail left through the back door.

Harvey and Maru began the process of assessing Linus. The first step was to put a high flow oxygen mask on him. The next was to get him in a hospital gown. Maru grabbed some trauma shears. “Linus, we have to take your clothing off and get you into a gown so we can see what’s going on.”

Linus let out another oath and smacked haphazardly at Maru. “That’s...my only...clothes.”

Harvey spoke up. “I have some clothing that will probably fit you. I’ll let you have that.”

“...Fine.”

While Maru cut the leaf tunic off and draped Linus with a gown, Harvey listened to his heart. They rolled Linus onto his side so Maru could get the tunic out from under him, and Harvey could listen to his lungs. Harvey visibly recoiled, then thumped Linus on the back to elicit a dull, sickly sound.

“Set me up for a chest x-ray and a chest tube…” Harvey’s voice was weak. He looked reluctant. “...this sounds exactly like a hemothorax…”

As Maru scurried away to grab supplies, Harvey turned to Linus. “Linus, did you fall recently? No need to talk, just nod or shake your head.”

Linus nodded. 

“Today?”

Linus nodded.

“From where?”

“...tree…”

“Did you fall on your belly?”

Linus gestured toward the left side of his chest, where a large bruise hand formed. “...hit...branch…”

“Okay. Thanks. We’re going to get an x-ray of your chest…”

There was a blinding flash of light. Rasmodius appeared by Linus’s bedside, inadvertently knocking Harvey out of the way.

“Hey!”

“Pardon me, Doctor.” Rasmodius was calm. He placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

Linus flailed, trying to grab the wizard. “...heal...me…”

Harvey explained. “Linus fell from a tree and hit a branch with his chest. I’m going to do a chest x-ray to see if he has broken ribs or if he’s bleeding internally. He may have a collapsed lung.”

The wizard, still calm and collected, took Linus’s hands. “I can ease your pain, friend, but I cannot heal you. Only the most adept white mages, with hundreds of years of study, can heal internal injuries like that...only them, and doctors.” He turned to Harvey. “May I cast a spell on him to relieve his pain?”

Harvey stared. It was as if his brain had locked up.

“Nothing about him will change except his perception of the pain he’s in.”

“Yes. Yes you may,” Harvey said. He stepped back. More quietly, and to nobody in particular, he continued. “I just don’t know how the hell I’m gonna document it…”

Maru giggled. “I heard that. And…no clue. Will we be transferring Linus?”

“Oh! Transport! Yes! Please! Call Grampleton Hospital and see if they can take him.”

“Sure.” Maru walked toward the front desk. Abigail was waiting there with the keys to the golf cart.

“Hey, Maru.” She slid the keys across the counter. “Thanks for the cart.”

Maru grabbed the keys. “No problem.” She picked up the phone, not meeting Abigail’s eyes.

“Listen.” Abigail held a hand out, blocking Maru’s hand from the phone. “You’re probably busy so I’ll keep it short. Sorry I’ve been an ass lately. Thanks for putting up with me.”

Maru gave her a warm smile. “Stress does weird things to people. You’ve been going through a lot. It’s okay. Thank you.” With that, she picked up the phone. 

As Abigail left the clinic, she let Shane in. Maru finished her phone conversation, then called out to Shane, who had taken a seat in the waiting room.

“Hi Shane, is it an emergency?”

Shane yawned. “Nope. 10:00 appointment.” He walked up to the counter.

“Oh. Okay. Sorry, I’m not even supposed to be here...there was an emergency. So Dr. Harvey might be a little behind.”

There was a roar of pain from the back, followed by a dazzling flash of light. “And by might, I mean probably...definitely will.” Maru threw a clipboard across the counter and ran to the back.

Rasmodius was holding Linus’s hands, whispering to him.

“Maru, get sterile and set up the chest drainage system!” Harvey discarded a long needle, quite possibly the source of Linus’s yelling, into a sharps container.

“Oh, Yoba’s butt, I haven’t messed with that since training…” Maru hurried to the sink. There was another flash of light. Was it lightning? Or was Rasmodius doing something?

“Drink up, young Maru.” The wizard held out a tiny vial of opaque white liquid.

“What’s that?” Maru scrubbed her hands.

“Potion of Memory. Will help you recall what you need to do.”

“I’m not sure about this…” Maru kept scrubbing. “It could be anything!” She gave Rasmodius an apologetic smile.

“It could be.” The wizard glared intently. “But it isn’t just anything. It is Potion of Memory. I would do anything to ensure my dearest friend’s survival. Giving you a potion to jog your memory seems much more effective than threatening to turn you into a mutant bug if you fail...though please consider that threat valid as well. Please. Drink. I need Linus to be okay, and you and the doctor are the ones who can make that happen. You are unsure, so I will make you sure.” His words were deliberate and clear.

“Maru!” Harvey called from across the room.

Maru breathed a sigh of relief, just sure that Harvey would prohibit her from drinking the potion and walk her through how to set up the system.

Harvey continued. “Drink it now, before you enter the sterile field!”

“Son of a…” Maru took the potion, uncorked the bottle, and drank. To her surprise, the potion tasted like a peach smoothie! Robin had made smoothies for breakfast the day Maru started at the clinic, years ago. Maru remembered how proud her mother was of her. She remembered the first-day jitters, though she didn’t feel them now. She remembered everything she’d learned. She felt comfort, and she felt sure.

“Now, Maru, please follow the doctor’s instructions.” The wizard’s voice had lost its sharpness.

“Yes, sir.” Maru scrubbed again, dried off, went to the correct cabinet, and set up the chest drainage system exactly as she’d been shown on that first day. 

“Thank you. After we put this chest tube in, I’ll see Shane.” Harvey held out a hand. “Draping, please.”

Maru opened the package of sterile draping and isolated Linus’s chest. “Do you want me to see him instead?”

“No ma’am.” Harvey swabbed Linus’s chest with iodine. “Shane will be seeing me for a problem that will likely require a prescription. Besides, he tends to be adversarial with people he doesn’t trust, which includes...almost everyone. I’ll give you the easier job of monitoring the chest tube.”

“Thanks.” Maru took Harvey’s iodine-soaked gauze and set it aside, to be thrown away after the procedure.

“Scalpel, please.”

Harvey made a small incision in the chest, then threaded the tube through. He sutured the tube to the skin. Maru set up before and cleaned up after each step of the procedure, secretly hoping this would be the only time she ever saw this procedure done. 

The procedure was quick, and thanks to the wizard’s analgesic spells, it was easier than most emergency chest tubes. Still, it was not enjoyable for anyone involved, least of all Linus. 

As Harvey ran upstairs to change into scrubs, Maru broke down the sterile field. She covered Linus with a blanket and put a pillow under his head.

“Linus, I know that wasn’t pleasant, I’m sorry.” She gave him a little smile. “You’re already getting some color back, though!”

“I’m breathing a little better,” he said. “When can I go home?”

“It’ll be a while.” Maru looked up, as if searching her brain for the correct explanation. “One of your lungs has collapsed.”

Harvey came back downstairs.

“What’s with the change of clothes?” Linus asked.

Harvey smiled. “Spilled a little something on this morning’s outfit. Not a huge problem.” Harvey gave Maru a Look. Maru nodded; she would not be mentioning the blood that got on Harvey’s shirt and jacket from the procedure.

“Miss Maru says I’m not going home for a while because one of my lungs collapsed, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir. You broke a few ribs as well. Your lung is nearly completely collapsed. So, we’ll be sending you to Grampleton Hospital for surgery.”

“No you won’t,” Linus said quickly. He removed the blanket and tried to sit up.

“YES! THEY WILL!” The wizard’s voice boomed. Linus stopped. Maru and Harvey looked around, but Rasmodius wasn’t there.

“You heard the man,” Maru said. “If you go to Grampleton, you will have surgery. You will recover, since you’re in good physical shape, and Rasmodius will still have his closest friend. If you do not go to Grampleton, you will die, and Rasmodius will turn me into a mutant bug.”

“He said that?” Harvey whispered.

Maru nodded.

 

The monitor beeped in alarm. 

“His pressure and pulse are going up.” Maru gestured toward the screen.

“Good to know, keep an eye on it.” Harvey put a hand on the wild man’s shoulder. “This will not be the life you’re used to, Linus, but it’s absolutely necessary. If you were to remain in the wild, you would die within a few hours, even with the pain relief from the wizard. And then Rasmodius would turn Maru into a mutant bug. I will not allow either of those things to happen.”

Maru gave Harvey a silent thumbs-up.

Harvey continued. “You’ll be taken to Grampleton by ambulance. That means you can continue to lay down on the way there. Once you get in, there will be a lot of people around you, asking you lots of questions--your name, your birthday, what happened. They will put a hospital bracelet on you. They’ll put more monitors on you, and start an IV in your arm. That way, they can give you medication. You’ll go into surgery, where they will open your chest and--”

The monitor beeped again as Linus’s eyes rolled back in his head.

“He’s unconscious.” Maru took Linus’s hand and pinched the tip of his finger, hard enough to hurt.

“Hey!” Linus woke up.

“Sorry, had to. You fainted.” Maru looked up at Harvey. “I’ll stay here until transport arrives for Linus.”

“That...might be a good idea.” Harvey awkwardly headed up front.

Linus spoke softly. “Are they really gonna put me on medicine and break my chest open? I don’t want them to hurt me. And I don’t want to be on medicine for the rest of my life!”

“I don’t know about the medicine.” Maru kept his hand in hers. “I do know that you might need surgery. If you get surgery, they’ll make sure you’re unconscious first. Like being asleep, but more. You won’t feel anything. You won’t even know it happened until you wake up with a scar. And I do know that the people at Grampleton will call Dr. Harvey and he’ll tell them that you live in the wild. If they can keep you from having to take medicine every day, they will.”

“Oh, I won’t feel anything?” Linus gave a weak laugh. “Why didn’t Dr. Harvey just tell me that in the first place?”

“He probably thought you already knew.”

Linus sighed. “Sorry. I haven’t been to the doctor since I got strep throat when I was a kid. I haven’t had any operations. My parents didn’t take me in for checkups. And I haven’t needed a doctor since I left home.”

Maru nodded. “It’s hard to know about things you’ve never experienced. I think that’s why Dr. Harvey has such a hard time explaining things to you. I might miss the mark here sometimes, too, please just ask me to clarify if you need me to.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.” He paused. “What if I don’t remember my birthday?”

“Just tell them that, it should be fine.”

In the exam room, Shane was giving Dr. Harvey a surly rundown of his problem. “Look. I’ve cut back on drinking. I don’t sleep with the TV on anymore. I take my antidepressants. Don’t even talk to me about exercise, because you know I’ve been throwing hay bales for Marnie. I still can’t fall asleep. And by the time I do, I’m only asleep for a couple hours before the chickens wake me up.”

Harvey smiled. “You’re doing well! I think that the insomnia caused by alcohol use and depression is continuing, simply because your body is used to being awake in bed. We’ll continue to hit this with everything we have in terms of lifestyle changes. I’ll also give you a bottle of sleeping pills to get you used to going to sleep at a decent time. From now on, leave the bar an hour earlier. I want you to only use your bed for sleeping. Please keep your bedroom cool; a fan might help with both temperature and white noise. An hour before bed, please turn off any TV or other electronics that you have...your phone, your video games, whatever. 30 minutes before bed, take a sleeping pill.”

“Alright. What if it doesn’t work?”

“Come back and see me next week. We have plenty of pills to try. But I’m trying this particular one first because most people in your situation have the best luck with it.” Harvey smiled. “I’ll be right back with those pills.”

As Harvey walked toward the front counter, he came face to face with the ambulance crew. “Oh! Hello there! You’re here for Mr. Linus, in the procedure room.” He opened the side door. 

Harvey hurried to the front, grabbed a bottle of pills, and sent Shane on his way. Still, by the time he made it to the procedure room, Linus was already on the stretcher and ready to go.

Even after giving the crew the rundown about Linus’s wilderness lifestyle, Maru and Harvey were nervous watching the ambulance drive away. Linus had been in Pelican Town for as long as either of them could remember. He hadn’t been to a doctor’s office in decades. He fainted at the mention of surgery. 

“At least his chest tube still looks good.” Maru shrugged.

“Good job setting up the drainage system. What was that memory potion that Rasmodius gave you, anyway?”

“No idea. It tasted like a peach smoothie, though, which was nice. Reminded me of my first day here. That may have been the point. It amazes me how he knows these things.”

“Yeah. I’ll admit, it was good to have him around today, if a little odd. It was also good to have you around...I would have called you in if you hadn’t been the one who delivered Linus to the clinic.”

The phone rang. Maru, still in work mode, grabbed it. “Medical clinic, this is Maru.”  
Harvey headed back to the procedure room. He had just started to push the door open when he felt a thump on the back of his head. As he turned around, he saw a pad of sticky notes hit the ground. Maru must have thrown them at him to get his attention.

Maru was listening to the phone, writing furiously. She caught Harvey’s eye and showed him the notes: “JMR en route from desert, mid-20s patient traumatic injuries”

Harvey facepalmed. “Oh, for Yoba’s sake…”

Maru set the note down and kept writing.

Harvey ran to the procedure room and cleaned it up. A couple minutes later, Maru walked in, already gloved up and carrying cleaning supplies.

“I think it’s the farmer.” She pulled out a disinfectant wipe. “Twentysomething, traumatic injuries, animal bites, covered in slime…”

Harvey frantically wiped down the crash cart. “I thought so. I wish they’d stop going to that damned Skull Cavern! I mean, the money is nice, especially with the overtime I’m paying you, but it’s not worth it! Should I start charging 2000G?”

Luckily, the farmer only needed a few wounds stitched up, and the excision of a flying serpent’s tooth from their rear end. It was a long process, but it wasn’t that difficult.

As soon as the farmer was discharged, Maru and Harvey walked over to the Saloon.

“Hey!” Gus waved from behind the bar. “Happy hour?”

“Wine O’Clock.” Harvey walked up to the bar with the clinic’s debit card and set it down. “We’ll split a bottle of Stardew Valley Peach.”

“Rough day?”

“Rough week!”

“I hope I wasn’t a part of that.” Gus gave an apologetic smile.

“No, sir, your appointment was one of the easy ones. We’ve had four ambulances and a helicopter this week! We had an inpatient admission, too. Oh, and two broken bones.”

“Wow! That helicopter was for your clinic? What happened?”

“A very sick patient was brought into our clinic to be stabilized, then transferred to the ICU at Zuzu General.” Harvey took the wine and the glasses.

“Oh, so you were just a stopover?”

“Yeah. Patient was so sick that they would have died in a ground unit, they needed the critical care life flight helicopter!”

“I bet that save felt good!”

Harvey looked down at the bar. “If I get the news that the patient’s actually okay, I’ll feel great. For now, it’s just a loose end. Things did not look good for them.” He gave Gus a sad smile. “I actually feel much better about the checkups, the minor traumas, and the patients who come to me when they’re sick and scared and then leave feeling better. This week has been full of patients getting too sick or too hurt for me to help, and having to transfer them to big hospitals. It’s scary, but it’s part of the job.”

“That makes sense.” Gus nodded. “Gonna want some pepper poppers, too?”

“Yes, please. I know Maru in particular would love some food.” Harvey looked back at Maru, who was sitting at a table. She still looked bedraggled. Her hair was up in a tiny, frizzy ponytail. She was rubbing her temples, looking down at the table. “She hasn’t eaten today, unless she was able to raid the patient pantry when I wasn’t looking. Now that I think about it...I’m pretty sure I haven’t eaten since early this morning, either.”

“In that case, I’ll give you two orders, both on the house. You and Maru do good work, and you do it well.”

Harvey’s face brightened. “I could say the same for you, sir!”


	7. Epilogue - One Week Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nurse case worker from Grampleton Hospital calls Dr. Harvey with some updates and questions.

“Medical clinic, this is Harvey.”

“Hi, is this Dr. Harvey?”

“Correct.”

“My name is Keely, I’m a nurse case worker at Grampleton Hospital. I have updates and questions about two of your patients.”

Harvey’s face brightened. “Oh! Good!”

“First of all, I know that Ms. Sandy isn’t one of your regular patients, but you treated her when she was brought in by ambulance. She’s been moved from the ICU to a step-down room. She’ll probably be here for about another two or three days. She has a visitor from Pelican Town staying with her.”

“That would explain why Emily wasn’t at the Saloon.” Harvey spoke more to himself than the nurse. “Um. What’s next after the step-down room?”

Dr. Harvey and Nurse Keely spent a few minutes discussing the potential long-term neurological and renal effects of heatstroke, and what Sandy’s care plan would be. She would most likely not see Dr. Harvey again; instead, her care would happen in Grampleton. Harvey made a note to keep an eye out for high quality used cars, in case he could pass along a recommendation to Sandy.

“And how’s Mr. Linus doing?”

Harvey heard a sigh over the phone. “He’s having some neurological deficits and we’re not sure why. He doesn’t remember his birthday. He’s constantly agitated, asking to leave. He has a bag of clothing, but says he’s never worn it. When we ask for his address, he can only say that he lives on the mountain outside Pelican Town. If he has any family, he’s not telling us who they are. He says that his only friend is a wizard--”

“--oh! Yes! Rasmodius.”

“That’s the name he was using!” Keely laughed. “So he was telling you the same story?”

“Well, yes, because that’s the truth.” Harvey leaned back in his chair. “Mr. Linus calls himself a wild man. He lives off the grid, in a tent, on a mountain outside Pelican Town. He has lived in the wild for...decades. Multiple decades, from what I can tell. He does well for himself foraging and fishing. He typically wears a leaf and fiber tunic, which we had to cut off, so I lent him some of my clothing for the trip home. He hates going inside. He’ll go to the library since they don’t make him wear shoes, he’ll go to Rasmodius’s tower, and I can usually get him inside the clinic for an exam during the winter. As of last winter, his vitals were within normal limits and he was in great shape.”

“How old is he, anyway?”

“That’s a tough question.” Harvey laughed. “He looks to be in his late 50s or early 60s. However, he does wear sunscreen, so he could be older. He lives outside, though. So maybe he’s younger. His typical resting heart rate is in the 60s, and given his physical fitness, that could mean that he’s in his 60s as well.”

“Huh. So, for the paperwork, can we put a birthdate of Spring 1 and show him born 60 years ago?”

“Sounds good to me.” Harvey tapped his pen on the desk. “So...what’s his discharge plan?”

“Well...we were thinking of sending him to a nursing home for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, once his neurological symptoms resolved...but now, I’m not so sure. I mean, if we put him in a nursing home, he might leave against medical advice. But I’m not comfortable discharging him home, either. And he‘ll need some physical and occupational therapy…” At this point, it sounded like the nurse was thinking out loud. “If a patient a week out from a traumatic hemo was asking if they could go camping, I’d say it’s a hard no, but his home, his life, is camping.”

“Why don’t you discharge him to my clinic?” Harvey asked. “I can set up his tent in the open space nearby, on River Road. That way, he won’t have to climb the mountain. I can arrange for meals for the first little while, call in a traveling PT/OT…” It was Harvey’s turn to think out loud. “Once his strength returns, he can move back to the mountain...will he be going home on any meds?”

“Surprisingly, no. He has no regular meds, correct?”

“Right.”

“And his lung function has returned, albeit not to 100% yet. He may need some more neb treatments, but those could be done in clinic, and only if he needs them.”

“Perfect!”

“Who will be financially responsible for this?”

Harvey facepalmed. He knew the answer. “Pelican Town Community Center vault. It’s our town’s general fund.” He did not know whether he had permission to use that fund; more specifically, he did not know if he had permission to use it for Linus. 

“And who do we contact to send an invoice to that fund?”

“Mr. Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town…”

“Why do you sound so hesitant?”

“Because I’m not actually sure if I’m allowed to use it.” Harvey was cringing. “The vault is for Pelican Town citizens in need. In order to legally be considered a citizen of Pelican Town, a resident must have an address and pay taxes. Linus doesn’t have an address, and he doesn’t pay taxes. I hope that our values of community and kinship will win out over the letter of the law, but Mr. Lewis…” Harvey’s voice trailed off as he facepalmed again.

“I’m guessing he won’t like that idea?”

“You know what? Just send the bill to me. I’ll have an easier time lobbying the Mayor by saying I was billed for Mr. Linus’s care and that makes me a Pelican Town citizen in need. I cannot break the Doctor’s Oath by refusing to treat him, neither can Grampleton Hospital...but I cannot pay for it, either.”

“Are you also the town lawyer?”

With a laugh, an exchange of addresses, and some goodbye pleasantries, Harvey hung up the phone. 

The next few weeks would be strange and busy, but hopefully, not nearly as strange and busy as the week that sent Linus to the hospital.


End file.
